Tulane Cross Country hosts Green Wave Invitational this Friday

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane Green Wave cross country team will host the Green Wave Invitational Friday, August 31 at City Park in New Orleans. The women's teams run at 5 p.m. and the men's teams begin at 5:30 p.m.

The seven team women's field includes Tulane, Belhaven College, Jackson State, Loyola (La.), Southeastern La., Southern Mississippi and Xavier (La.). The men's field includes Belhaven, Loyola, Southeastern and Xavier.

"Hosting our own cross country meet is very important to the Tulane community as well as our team," said Tulane head coach Heather Van Norman. "Obviously it's a home field advantage for us; we're used to the course. It's going to be fast and flat, so we should see some pretty good competitive running. We'll see who is in shape, who is ready to run and who has some speed underneath them."

Tulane returns all of its top runners from the 2006 season, including letter winners Rachel Bryan, Whitney Hampton, Keriann Langley, Savannah Moon, Aubrey Phillips and Jill Shriver. Tulane also features newcomers Rebecca Coady, Laurie Dalrymple, Katie Hamel, Caitlin Hornbeck and Peggy Keplinger, along with four other returners. Last season Tulane placed sixth in Conference USA and sent two runners - Bryan and Phillips - to the NCAA South Central Cross Country Regional Championships.